Newt's World – Episode 820: Kevin Czinger on Divergent 3D

Host: Newt Gingrich
Guest: Kevin Czinger, Founder and Executive Chairman of Divergent Technologies and Czinger Vehicles
Date: March 9, 2025

Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Newt Gingrich talks with Kevin Czinger, the visionary founder behind Divergent Technologies and Czinger Vehicles. The conversation explores Kevin's remarkable personal journey—from building hot rods as a young man in working-class Ohio to founding a company revolutionizing manufacturing with cutting-edge AI, 3D printing, and robotics. The core of the dialogue centers on how Divergent’s breakthrough system, the Divergent Adaptive Production System, is changing the paradigms of automotive, aerospace, and defense manufacturing, and could be integral to America’s future industrial competitiveness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kevin Czinger’s Background and Influences

Timestamps: 02:30–09:16

• Early Life & Values:
  Raised in a working-class Ohio family, the youngest of five, first to go to college.
  Educated in a Jesuit high school, which instilled the classical virtues and the idea that "the life well lived is finding an area of competition that allows you to express your talents and stretch your talents in the greatest possible way." (Kevin Czinger, 04:03)
• Athletics and Discipline:
  Football scholarship to Yale, became an All-American.
  Emphasized relentless training and believing in oneself, illustrated with a story of blocking multiple punts to win a nationally televised game.
• Military Service:
  Served in the Marine Corps Reserves, inspired by parents’ and brother’s service, and the ethos of giving back.

"You're given this gift of life. You have a short period to use it to the full extent. And I always trained to the max. And part of that training was to kind of figure out what you thought your limit was and push behind that." — Kevin Czinger (05:37)

2. Academia, Law, and Wall Street

Timestamps: 07:48–13:49

• Yale Law School:
  Encouraged by future dean Guido Calabresi to join Yale Law for its flexible, interdisciplinary approach.
• Legal Career:
  Clerks for Judge Gesell on Iran-Contra cases. Hand-picked by Rudy Giuliani for the U.S. Attorney’s office; undefeated as a prosecutor.
• Goldman Sachs:
  Recruited by John Thornton, became his go-to execution person for major international deals.
  Ultimately encouraged by Rupert Murdoch to pursue entrepreneurship and "create something."

3. The Road to Divergent: Lessons from Coda Automotive

Timestamps: 13:49–17:24

• Founding Coda Automotive (2008):
  Focused on affordable electric vehicles (EVs), innovated with large-format prismatic lithium iron phosphate battery cells.
• China’s Role in Battery Manufacturing:
  U.S. policy directed production to China; this decision enabled China to gain a global lead in battery tech.
• Revelation About Sustainability:
  Realized that coal-powered Chinese factories made many "green" EVs less sustainable overall when considering lifecycle CO2 emissions. This led to the insight that how things are made (the entire lifecycle) can have greater environmental impact than their use alone.

"When you manufacture a battery cell using coal fired power... the emissions from that are greater... than say, driving a Toyota Camry with all of its manufacturing emissions plus 80,000 miles of driving." — Kevin Czinger (15:37)

4. Divergent Technologies: Vision, Process, and Mission

Timestamps: 21:13–29:51

• Industry at an Inflection Point:
  Conversations with Andy Grove highlighted the U.S.’s dwindling manufacturing base due to offshoring and a lack of support for domestic hardware startups.
• Leapfrogging Old Models:
  Inspired by the "moonshot" mentality—just as von Braun advised JFK to jump past Soviet orbit milestones, Czinger resolved to leap beyond traditional manufacturing via a fully digital, adaptive process.
• The Divergent Adaptive Production System:
  • AI-driven design (generative engineering)
  • 3D metal printing, producing optimal structures in assemblable modules
  • Robotic/automated assembly
    The resulting system is design-agnostic and can produce radically different products—custom car chassis or missile frames—on the same line.

"You need to completely leapfrog that with a total digital system.... Machine learning generates a structure. That structure then gets printed... in assemblable blocks and then an automated system assembles those." — Kevin Czinger (25:31)

• Production and Scaling:
  750+ patents, multiple major carmakers (Aston Martin, Bugatti, McLaren, Mercedes, and others) already using Divergent frames in production vehicles.

5. The Czinger 21C: Proving the Model

Timestamps: 29:51–33:57

• Genesis of the 21C:
  When traditional carmakers hesitated, Czinger and his son Lucas built their own hypercar to demonstrate the technology’s potential.
• Record-Setting Performance:
  • 21C: About 3,000 pounds, 1,350 HP, 0–60 mph in 1.88 seconds, top speed 253 mph, full regulatory and emissions compliance.
  • Has beaten lap records at top tracks, outpacing Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Porsche.

"In a very short period of time... Ford versus Ferrari. This was Zinger versus the world. And the world was defeated." — Kevin Czinger (32:53)

6. How the Divergent Adaptive Production System Works

Timestamps: 36:04–39:48

• Three Subsystems:
  • Generative engineering engine (AI/ML-based design)
  • Precision 3D metal printing
  • Automated assembly cells
• Bidirectional Evolutionary Optimization:
  • Clients provide requirements; system simulates and iterates both function and manufacturability.
  • Cuts structural component design from months to hours, slashes weight and cost.
• Cross-Industry Flexibility:
  • Example: Suspension part for McLaren—engineered in 15 hours of compute time instead of 6–9 months; reduces weight by 20–40%.

7. Impact in Aerospace & Defense

Timestamps: 39:48–44:36

• General Atomics Collaboration:
  • Redesigned a drone structure, reducing part count from 184 to 4, production cycle from 12 days to <1, cost by over 40%, and development time by ~95%.
  • Published results led to contracts with almost every major U.S. defense and aerospace prime.
  • Proved ability to design and flight-test new hardware (e.g., missile systems) in 10 weeks vs. years.
• Strategic Implications:
  • U.S. defense capacity hampered by slow, offshore supply chains.
  • Divergent’s distributed factories could slash logistics, sustainment costs, and ramp up munitions and spare parts in real time—even deployed near front lines.

"This gives us, in my view, the only plausible real deterrent to China. And that is very rapid development of... unmanned air, land, sea and space vehicles." — Kevin Czinger (43:18)

8. Challenges, Hopes, and Calls to Action

Timestamps: 45:30–49:38

• Worries:
  U.S. defense industrial base capacity has eroded; supply chains have "hollowed out." Main concern is lack of speed and awareness in adoption by the U.S. government and military bureaucracy.
• Optimism:
  Belief that the current political focus on re-industrializing America can embrace Divergent’s leap, if leaders "see it" and act quickly.
• Historical Echo:
  Compares Divergent’s potential to the rapid WWII rearmament effort—America’s last great leap in manufacturing.

"This is the last best chance we have to leapfrog Chinese manufacturing technology and catch up... This is the solution to do it." — Kevin Czinger (47:13)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Innovation & Risk:
  "We designed, built and are shipping the most advanced, highest performing production car ever. And it's American made, it's off American patented technology... 21st century American muscle car." — Kevin Czinger (32:12)
• On Manufacturing’s Future:
  "We can't go back to the way things are or were before we offshored our manufacturing. We need to make a leapfrog... a factory that is ready to scale and which we want to take from that initial factory to tens and then hundreds of factories." — Kevin Czinger (27:10)
• On National Security:
  "We don’t have the industrial base that is here to not only develop new weapons rapidly and then volume produce them, but even for our existing weapons, we don’t have the casting suppliers onshore, we don’t have this supply chain... I think we’re at an existential moment." — Kevin Czinger (46:08)
• Newt's Closing Praise:
  "...You were the first system I’ve seen which gives us the opportunity to ramp up in a similar kind of way [to WWII] and to once again leapfrog past all of our competitors in a way that just leaves them behind." — Newt Gingrich (49:38)

Summary Timeline (Key Segments)

• 02:30–04:03 — Kevin describes formative years, values from Jesuit education.
• 05:37–07:48 — Football achievements, mindset, and a clutch play.
• 13:49–17:24 — Coda Automotive, batteries, and the realization about lifecycle emissions.
• 21:13–27:57 — Origins of Divergent's approach, digital manufacturing as a national imperative.
• 29:51–33:57 — Building the Czinger 21C, revolutionizing hypercar production.
• 36:04–39:48 — In-depth look at the Divergent Adaptive Production System.
• 39:48–44:36 — Transformative defense applications, drone manufacturing revolution.
• 45:30–49:38 — Concerns about industrial capacity, urgency for adoption, hopes for American resurgence.

Conclusion

This episode provides a fascinating window into how an individual's drive and willingness to question the status quo leads to genuine technological revolutions. Czinger's Divergent Technologies may be the template for a revitalized American manufacturing sector, crucial in both economic and national security contexts. The conversation is replete with actionable insights, urgent warnings, and optimism—reflecting an inflection point not just for technology, but for the future of American leadership.

For more information:

• Divergent Technologies: divergent3d.com
• Czinger Vehicles: czinger.com